Commonwealth Avenue Dealerships

The years 1994, 1995 and 1996 were the best years the automotive industry have ever had in its history, experiencing year-after-year growth. This prompted The Sunny Motors Group’s top management to eye a Nissan dealership in Metro Manila. Considered as the largest not only in the Philippines but in Asia, Nissan Commonwealth, Inc. started operations in July 15, 1996 and inaugurated its facilities on August 5 on the same year. Nissan Commonwealth was built on a one hectare property with 14,000 square meters floor area of building and facilities with a 3-storey service workshop boasting of state-of-the-art tools and equipment.

Nissan Commonwealth, Inc.

After just three years in operation, Nissan Commonwealth, Inc. was awarded the most prestigious 1999 Dealer of the Year Award by Nissan Motor Philippines, Inc. It also garnered the following awards : 1999 Best in Service Operations, 1999 Best in Parts Operations and 1999 Best in Customer Relations. Nissan Commonwealth also won the 1999 Teleperformance Grand Prix Customer Service Golden Award (Automotive Industry) by TelePhilippines & TelePerformance International in France.

Meanwhile, the Nissan provincial branch dealership of World Cars, Inc. in Santiago City transferred to its new home on February 1997 on a fully owned 11,100 square-meter property. The dealership facility has a floor area of 1,475 square meters with an elevated vehicle showroom, complete administration, sales, parts and service offices, a two-storey parts warehouse and with a 25-workbay service shop. At present, the facility is acknowledged as the largest in terms of size in the whole Region II (Cagayan Valley).

More expansion projects were inaugurated. To better service the motor vehicle insurance needs of the SMG dealerships, the Management entered a Memorandum of Agreement with Standard Insurance Co., Inc., Security Pacific Assurance Corp. and Peoples Trans-East Asia Insurance Corp. to support Santa Monica Insurance Agency which was formed and organized in March of 1997. The SMIA head office was inaugurated in the Quezon Avenue complex.

Inspite of the Asian financial crisis that swept the region, in April of 1997, Sunny Motors opened its fully owned 150 square-meter airconditioned vehicles showroom at the renowned Tutuban Center Mall in Divisoria, Manila, purposely to tap the Filipino-Chinese market.

On May 9, 1997, the fourth project for the year was launched with the opening of the Commonwealth AutoCenter Inc. Strategically located beside Nissan Commonwealth, Inc., the said dealership was the latest franchised dealer of Columbian Motors Corporation, Columbian Autocar Corporation and Asian Carmakers Corporation; to sell Mazda, Kia, Subaru and Daihatsu brands of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Commonwealth Autocenter, Inc. was built on a one-hectare lot of owned property which is regarded as the biggest, most modern and complete Columbian Autocenter in the country.

The first provincial branch of Sunny Motors in Cabanatuan City, Province of Nueva Ecija was blessed on September 1999 selling Mazda and Kia models. As of July 2000, Commonwealth Autocenter, Inc. was renamed Prince Motor Corporation following the major marketing directions of Columbian Motors and Kia Motors of Korea. The joint venture resulted in the assembly and distribution of Kia passenger cars and commercial vehicles only.

After July of 1997, due to the Asian financial crisis, the automotive industry suffered negative growth and continuous decline in sales. Credit facility became scarce with high down payment requirements and interest rates imposed on interested buyers. Thinking one step ahead, The Sunny Motors Group stakeholders immediately formed the First United Finance and Leasing Corporation on January 28, 1998. Its primary purpose was to make credit available to the valued clients of The Sunny Motors Group who need flexible financing assistance and facility.

Some unexpected turn of events in 1998 made Sunny Motor Sales, Inc. and Imperial Auto Corporation without any franchised models to sell due to the severance of ties of Italcar Pilipinas, Inc. with Hyundai Corporation of Korea. Francisco Motor’s assembly of Mazda commercial vehicles was also terminated. Mazda passenger cars which used to be sold by Prince Motor Corporation has ceased assembly.

These developments deeply affected major SMG dealerships. With only Nissan and Kia passenger cars and commercial vehicles left to sell, the top management decided immediately to directly import from Korea, the Hyudai Starex mini vans which became very popular in the market.

The SMG management also organized a satellite dealership named AUTO MYX venturing in used car operations, accepting trade-ins, buying repossessed vehicles from various financing companies and accepting consignment units for sale. The year 2001 gave SMG some breakthroughs in its negotiations for new franchised lines. By late May, Norkis Automotive Resources Corporation, the official distributor of the premium market models of the Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler, approved the provisional franchise of Sunny Motors. Finally, the Chrysler Quezon Avenue dealership was blessed and inaugurated on September 21, 2001 where NARC also simultaneously introduced to the market its 2001 models like the Dodge Durango 4x2, Dodge Dakota Quad Cab and the Chrysler Town & Country minivan.

Chrysler Quezon Avenue

A month earlier, the Sunny Motors Cabanatuan was also inaugurated on August 1, 2001 and officially appointed as a franchised dealer of Suzuki Philippines, Inc.

As the year 2001 drew to a close, The Sunny Motors Group continued to expand its operations with the appointment of Hyundai Quezon Avenue, Inc., as one of the official franchised dealer of Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. on December 26, 2001.

Hyundai Quezon Avenue

The year 2002 was ushered in with the appointment of Prince Motor Corporation as a franchised dealer of Suzuki Philippines, Inc. for the Commonwealth Avenue area on February 1, 2002.
In totality, The Sunny Motors Group exists and shall continue doing so because of its Corporate Mission – “To serve our customers by providing professional, quality and efficient automotive products and services at reasonable cost through a world-class dealership network committed to Total Customer Satisfaction.”